Aberration TMNT Short Story
by XxTurtleTomboy173xX
Summary: Leo has woken from a tormenting three-month-long coma and is slowly recovering, but is still haunted by the terrifying memories of his showdown with Shredder, for fear that he and his goons will find and destroy his family. Are they truly safe from him? Or does an even more deadly trap await them?
1. Chapter 1

Darkness. The only light was that of the dim moonlight which lit up the ghost town streets, as all of the lights had been crushed, smashed into small pieces, or bent beyond repair. Tall crystallized trees with long sharp spires on the corner of every street. Crumbling buildings reduced to piles of rubble and covered in a thin layer of white snow. And not the the slightest sign of life. Anywhere. Even so, the blue-masked turtle stayed clear of the light and kept to the shadows, his prized weapon of choice ready in his hands.

At the sound of footsteps, he darted into the dark again as six droids armed with large black guns marched past him, the clanking of their metal feet enough to make his blood boil. However he wished to slice their metal bodies to pieces, he resisted the urge as the sudden surge of pain that coursed through his sore muscles reminded him of the real reason he was topside. To find his brothers.

Without a second thought, after making sure the coast was clear, he snatched the first rung of the ladder. But when he attempted to pull himself up, he immediately regretted his decision as the fire in his chest had flared up again, making him hiss in pain. Rubbing his bruised ribs and gritting his teeth, he slowly climbed to the rooftops.

Even though his ribs were just bruised and not completely broken, he had to mind his posture when both jumping and fighting, not to mention scissor kicks were completely out of the question. But as the tiny snowflakes silently swirled around him, his heart stopped at the three large familiar bodies lying lifelessly on the reddened gravel covered in fresh white, each of them with their hands over each other's shells.

"Guys!"

Running to the nearest one, Leo bent over the smallest and brushed away the snow that had settled over him. Pressing two fingers to his neck, but he felt nothing! Grabbing his brother's hand he squeezed it, pleading for any kind of response.

"Mikey! Mikey, wake up!"

Putting his ear to his little brother's plastron, his heart leapt at the sound of a faint heartbeat and the soft touch of a cold hand on his shoulder. He stared at his little brother's cold blueish face as he half-opened his eyes and managed a small smile at the eldest.

"Bout' time...you got here bro," he mumbled, his words slurring together.

"Don't try to talk Mikey. I'm going to help you. You're going to be okay."

"Don't worry….about me bro. R-rr-r-Raph," the orange-clad turtle said softly as Leo looked him over. He had a large wound across his left arm, two parallel lines that started at his tricep, which trailed down across his plastron and ran off down his right leg. He hoped that Mikey didn't see that he was afraid. "R-Raph….he needs…your help..more than I...do."

A laughter fit erupted from a deep voice behind him, making his skin crawl. "Leonardo, you have finally come to join us." Wielding both katanas, he turned to face the intruder and stood over his brothers like a feral cat defending its young. "I have been waiting for you."

"Shredder!" His eyes went white with fury. "You monster! You did this!"

"Yes! And I enjoyed breaking each one of them down. Slowly. Painfully. Although it would have been more amusing for you to see me do it, right in front of you and your pathetic master!"

Within a split second, Leo and Shredder were locked together in a writhing knot of metal, skin, and blades.

"You will pay for what you've done! I swear you'll pay!"

Sweeping his legs out from underneath him, Leo fell to the ground. The gauntlet hissed as it slashed through the air. Leo shrieked in pain, as felt the razor blade sink into his skin!

"No!"

"No!" Leo screamed as arms grabbed him, sending his attacker to the ground with a strong kick.

"Leo! Leo, stop!" The voice pleaded.

"Leo wake up! It's okay." Opening his eyes, he saw Raph holding his arms down and staring at him with a worry plastered all over his face. April bent down beside a very petrified Mikey, who was lying sitting up on the floor, holding his arm against his chest with his other hand.

"Raph! What happened?" Leo gasped as he stopped struggling in younger brother's grip.

Raph hushed him. "Calm down man. I'm here." He turned away to April. "I'll stay with him. You take care of Mikey's arm." April nodded in understanding, helping Mikey onto this feet and ushered him out if Leo's room.

Leo was aghast."Raph, what happened?! Where are we?! Why was Mikey-"

"He's fine. We're still at April's farmhouse. It was just a nightmare," Raph replied softly, placing a hand on his older brother's and gently squeezing it. Leo cringed a little at Raph's touch and looked up at him with a surprised look. He wasn't used to this kind of affection, especially coming from him.

"What?"

"Nothing...it's just..," he drifted off, hiding his embarrassment from Raph by turning away and lying back down on the bed. Reaching in the blankets, he took his fingers and traced the scar on the lower part of his plastron. Two perfectly aligned parallel lines trailing down his torso. As soon as he applied pressure to it, he winced as the painful shock spread through him.

He hoped that Raph didn't notice. How his "Fearless" Leonardo had fallen so low and become so _afraid._ He was supposed to be the strongest for his brothers. He couldn't let them know that he was scared and was determined to remain calm and noncommittal. "Nothing."

"You know we've safe from him here, right?"

Leo looked up from the covers. "I don't know what you mean."

"Him." From the look in his eyes, Leo could tell who he meant and that he wasn't persuaded. "He's far away from us. He can't get us here."

Leo didn't answer. He just nodded, laid his head against his pillow and closed his eyes.

" _But he will find us. I just know it."_


	2. Chapter 2

Merry Christmas reader-chans and reader-sans! I apologize for this chapter being long overdue and I'm sorry if it stinks, but I hope you all like it!

"Come and get it!" Mikey yelled, as if he wanted to let the whole world know that breakfast was ready.

Raph was settled on the worn couch in the living room reading one of his old comic books and looking solemn. The moment his little brother mentioned breakfast, he hid it, got up and was the first to join the youngest, right as he took a steaming hot breakfast pizza out of the oven. " 'Bout time."

He looked at the pizza skeptically. "This one had better not have fake cockroaches in it," he grunted, shooting a glare in Mikey's direction.

He just grinned innocently. "Chillax brah, this pie is bug free," he chuckled, and amused himself by busily bounding through the kitchen like a rabbit that had just ingested a full can worth of caffeinated coffee, tossing breakfast plates onto the table with each landing perfectly in its appropriate place. Even after the shocking events of last night, he didn't let them or his bruised arm hinder his creative ninja skills.

"Did someone say breakfast!?" Casey appeared in the front doorway, cleaning black grease off of his hands with an oily old rag; a clear sign that he'd been working on restoring the old rundown truck in the barn. He plopped down in a chair next to Raph.

"Raph. What's up?" but the hotheaded turtle didn't acknowledge his presence or even glance at him.

"Dude, what's eat'n ya? You've been quiet all morning."

"I've had a lot on my mind, man," Raph said in a low voice, a little too quickly, "I need some time alone."

Casey raised his hands in a sarcastic surrender."Right. I get it. Don't think I can't take a hint when you want to be left alone. But are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Yeah."

Right then April trooped down the stairs with her tessen in her hand.

"Yo Red! What's up?"

"Morning guys. Any of you seen Donnie?" she asked before picking a large slice of pizza and taking a bite. Casey slumped down in his chair.

"Out in the barn like always. Busy as ever working on that retro mutagen," Raph replied as he cut himself a piece of pizza with his sai, "You know him."

"And Leo?"

The room grew quiet. Raph's face fell and even Mikey heard her, freezing mid stride. Casey just glanced at each of them in turn with a confused look.

"He…"Raph opened his mouth to speak, but Mikey beat him before he could say anything else.

"Still hasn't come down yet,"said Mikey calmly, shoving third piece of pizza into his mouth and twirling his finger around the side of his head. "Probably still sleeping or meditating, after he went a little...I don't know...psychotic?"

"Mikey!" Raph growled threateningly and banging his hand on the table so hard all of the plates clattered, "Leo needs his space. He's still recovering and it's going to be a while before he gets all of his strength back."

The youngest sank back in his chair, touching his sore arm.

Raph turned back to his comic and nobody else said anything for the rest of breakfast. Although, the truth was that he wasn't really reading it at all. In fact, he didn't even turn the page. Where it was turned to was a picture had been taped onto it. It was a picture of Master Splinter. Even though they had only been at April's for three and and half months, time had slowly tarnished the memory of his beloved master. How could he help his eldest brother, whom he secretly admired and loved so much, without his father's wisdom and guidance? "Some brother I've turned out to be. now look where we are. Hiding like cowards in an old farmhouse. I couldn't even protect my Sensei! Or Leo! I should have tried to find him instead of going straight to April's. I could have helped him.

Sensei? What do I do now? I need your help. Leo needs our help, but I don't know how to. What should I do? …. father?

Finally, he stood, tossed his book onto the table and went upstairs. Peeking his head inside Leo's room, his older brother was sitting absolutely still in a meditative position on the rug in front of the window, the aura about him starting to glow. But in a few seconds, the light flickered and went out. He took another long breath and his sea green skin started to glow again and again, it was snuffed out. Leo quietly groaned in frustration. What's more is that Raph noticed that all of his muscles were tensed, his hands balled into fists, and even though he couldn't see very well from where he was standing, it looked like he was trembling. Something was wrong.

"Hey Leo." Raph whispered, "You alright?"

Leo stopped shaking almost instantly, stood up and then turned to his brother with a suspiciously warm smile on his face. This threw Raph off. "I'm fine Raph. Ready for a training sess?"

Raph was slightly disturbed at the quick way his brother changed emotions and was about to ask him about it, but he said nothing. "Yeah...sure."

"Great." Leo said as they headed downstairs together. "I came up with a new training game."

Mikey was settled on the floor watching a new episode of Crognard while Donnie sat on the loveseat with his every morning mug of coffee, typing away on his laptop.

"Come on guys! We're all going out for a training session."

"Whoa Leo. What's up with you?" Mikey said when he finally broke away from the TV. "You wake up on the cheerful side of the bed or something?"

Surprisingly, Leo laughed. He hadn't laughed since...before the… "More like the healed side of the bed. I'm feeling much better. Also, I'm sorry about your arm Mikey. How is it?"

Mikey grinned, "It's all good bro. Besides it's not my water balloon throwing arm."

"That's good Leo," said Donnie, "That your feeling better and all. But don't you think it's a little too early for a regular training session? I mean…" he wanted to say 'considering you injury,' but he held his tongue and his words trailed off.

But Leo didn't seem offended."Trust me Donnie. It'll be fun."

(Short TS)

"Exactly how far away is this place?" Mikey whined, trailing behind his other brothers as he followed them through the trees, swinging from one branch to the next with Raph closest to Leo. Leo did look a lot better than usual, but he still didn't buy his brother's act. Something was still wrong with him, and noticed that whenever he jumped, he shifted his weight off of his hurt leg and tensed slightly when he landed. However, he withheld any conversation with his oldest brother involving his strange behavior.

"As we've been telling you for the past ten minutes Mikey, we're almost there," Leo hollered irritably.

"Actually, we've been running for nearly thirteen minutes and thirty-four-Oww!"

"Not now Donnie," Raph hushed him and started to slow down, "There's something wrong with Leo."

"If this about that nightmare he had last night, I wouldn't worry too much Raph. We've all had them."

"But you should have seen him," Raph whispered, "He was dreaming about him! And he looked …. terrified!"

"We're here," Leo announced as they approached a clearing up ahead. A series of old worn-down buildings were spread out over an enormous slab of concrete that stretched nearly three quarters of a mile long and was completely secluded by the tall pines.

They kept "I found this old abandoned warehouse the other day and I've got a new training game, similar to turtle hunt."

"Awwww! Leo, I always get caught first!"

"I said it's similar to turtle hunt. This game is called "Stealth Hunter."

"Stealth Hunter. I like the sound of the that," said Raph.

"It's like hide and seek." Leo set his crutch down on the ground and took off his mask. His brothers exchanged surprised looks.

"The point of the game is to take this from me," holding his bandana out to show them and then tying it loosely around his arm,"I'm going to get a sixty-second head start and head into the warehouse. Then you guys have to hunt me down and take it."

"Sounds like fun! Let's do dis!" Mikey cheered.

"Alright. Ready Leo?" said Donnie, holding the timer. "Go!"

Leo raced into the maze of buildings, zigzagging in and out of each alleyway, so as to confuse them. But he didn't go in any of the them or take to the rooftops, because he knew that they'd expect him to do that. He just kept running, keeping out of the light as much as possible, avoiding sharp broken beams, and darting around piles of rubble. He tried not to show it, but his leg throbbed on and off with every step. Finally, when he was nearly at the end of the compound and leaped in through the open window of one of the larger buildings. He climbed the stairs leading to the upper levels and came to a room with desk and papers scattered all over the floor. He sat down by the window just out of sight to keep an eye out, and rubbed his sore leg.

"It's better they don't know," he told himself,"We have more important things to worry about."

Upon hearing shouts, he peered over through the window. The building he was in overlooked most of the others and he could see his brothers rushing over the rooftops searching for him. He smiled when they all turned in the complete wrong direction.

Suddenly he caught sight of something moving through the complex. Something, or someone. And it wasn't one of his brothers.

The figure looked like a person, but someone large and muscular. He couldn't see very clearly, but he thought he was wearing a helmet and he was headed into one of the large buildings sign over it that read "Metal Sector XP37."

Out of curiosity, he gathered his gear and while still keeping a low profile, he crept down to the ground level and hurried outside to catch up to him. The door at the entrance had been tore off its hinges and now laid bent in half on the ground before the doorway, cluttered with plants that had grow in through the cracks of the concrete.

Leo's sharp eyes darted from side to side, scanning every inch of the place that he came across. "Metal Sector XP37" was not as tall, but was much bigger than the one Leo had been hiding in. Rather it was mostly one large room than a multiple floor building. The walls were crowded with crates that seemed to have never been opened. Sluices filled with nothing but some remaining puddles of water and stray sheets of metal that had rusted over. Piled all the way to the ceiling in one corner were metal barrels with DANGER symbols stamped all over them. Sneaking quietly around the stacks, he found nothing.

"Must be where they cleaned and processed metal,"Leo said to himself, "Nah. It's probably just my imagination."

Just then, there was the sound metal hitting the floor! Leo lashed out his katanas and whirled round in a defensive position, only to see a small rat skittered across the floor and hid behind a crate on the other side of the warehouse. He sighed and turned to leave.

"Well this certainly is a surprise," a voice boomed throughout the room and Leo's face with panic. A voice Leo knew far too well to be misunderstood, and he cursed the day he had first listened to it. "The Fearless Leader still lives, and is reduced to flinching at a frivolous rat."

"Shredder!" Leo hissed, his fear quickly festering into anger as he frantically searched for the assassin, but he still saw nothing. "Show yourself!"

Shredder laughed wickedly and as hard as Leo tried to locate him, the laughter seemed to be coming from all directions."How can this be? How did you find us? No. No, your not real! You can't possibly be here. You're still in the city."

A fist slammed into Leo's shell sending him face first onto the cement. "Does that feel real enough to you?"

Leo clenched his fists, snatched up his swords and swung with everything he had. Shredder dodged it immediately, and swung his gauntlet at Leo's face. Leo parried and aimed a kick at Shredder's lower torso, but his foot only struck air and received a stunning blow to the face. Leo swung another blow that would have knocked him off of his feet, but Shredder seemed to know every next move he could make.

"How did you come here?"

"I believe you know about tracking devices?" Leo struck another blow, but his foe dodged both times with ease. "Your master did not teach you well," Shredder taunted.

"At least my Master that taught me compassion, loyalty, and what honor meant," Leo growled, "It was my Master who gave me something worth fighting for. And it was my master who taught me the skills I need to defeat YOU!"

"You cannot defeat me, turtle!" Shredder struck faster than Leo could think, wedging his foot into the bend of Leo's knee,(the knee of his injured leg.) Leo screamed in pain and stumbled backwards dropping his katanas. "You can't even touch me."

He gestured to the warehouse. "Brings back memories doesn't it? The old haunt."

Leo scoffed. "The only memory I have is how much I despise you. The pain and suffering you've caused on my family and friends! Every human in New York City!"

"I care nothing for them. I fight to win!" Leo blew punches left and right, but Shredder knew every one and dodged them all! "However, I remember the fact that you couldn't defeat me." Once again, he disappeared from sight, but his voice was all around. "You're foolish to even think you could defeat me. You may possess impressive skills, but you know not at all how to use them."

Leo snarled viciously like a rabid dog. "Stop hiding like a coward Shredder! Come out and fight."

"Do not worry Leonardo." Shredder said slowly, withdrawing his gauntlet. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Leo?"

Leo spun around sending a shuriken flying in the direction of the voice.

"Leo! What's going on?!"

"Shredder!" Leo shrieked. "Shredder's here!"

Donnie gave him a puzzled look. "What? That's impossible."

"He's here! He's right there." Leo indicated the evil man standing on top of the crates and heading for the doors! "Get him! He's getting away!"

But his brothers only exchanged confused looks! Shredder vanished through the doors.

Leo stormed over to them and abruptly grabbed Mikey by the arm. "What was that?! Shredder ran right by you!" But mikey was too shocked to say anything. He was frightened, squealed when Leo snatched him so harshly.

Raph still stunned by what just happened, wrenched Leo's hand away from the youngest and Mikey cowered behind him. "Leo! What the heck is wrong with you?!

"Shredder was right there! Why didn't you stop him!?"

"Because…Leo" Mikey managed, peeking out from behind Raph, "...there was no one there."


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on! We have to get out of here!"

Leo tied his bright blue bandana tightly over his eyes before storming out of the warehouse and into the network of dirt roadways, not even seeming to care if anyone saw a giant anthropomorphic turtle walking around in broad daylight. His three astounded younger brothers didn't move an inch as if their feet were rooted to the ground. They heard their brother's order, but their entire bodies were frozen in dead silence. A silence so thick that it trapped their words right on the edge of their tongues. Even Raph didn't have the guts to say a word. Donnie's mind was running like a computer, searching for any possible explanation but with no result. Mikey was to terrified to even let go of Raph, but the silence was threatening to choke him.

"Donnie?" Mikey breathed timidly, making Donnie jump a little because it was the first word that anyone of them said in several minutes. "What's happened to Leo?"

Donnie wanted to give him a reasonable explanation, but he also didn't want to lie to him. Especially him.

"You don't know, do you?"

The scientific turtle sighed and shook his head. "No Mikey. I don't."

"But you have an answer for anything."

"I'm sorry Mikey, but I'm completely clueless on this one."

This made Mikey gasp. "Then...if you don't know what's wrong with Leo, then how are we going to help him?!

Raph still didn't say anything, but was suddenly interested in the ground as if he would find some answer scrawled in the dirt. Donnie thought very hard and started to pace with his hand on his chin. "Well, whatever is going on with him, I don't think it's Leo himself that's allowing him to act this way. Something else was involved."

"What are you thinkin Don?" Mikey inquired.

"Did you see how anxious he was? Since when is Leo this anxious?"

"That'd be right before…." Mikey abruptly stopped.

"Before he faced Shredder and was….cut down" Raph finished in a low voice, still staring at the ground. "I should have confronted him about it when I had the chance."

"It's no good pointing fingers right now Raph. We need to figure this out."

"We need to find him first. In fact, what are we doing here?" Raph cut in and sheathing his sais. "We know where he's going. Come on. If we hurry, we can still catch him," breaking into a run in the direction Leo had gone. And Donnie and Mikey followed him.

Raph took the lead as they took to the trees. If they were going to find Leo, their best advantage to find him without being spotted was to take the higher ground. They ran for nearly twenty minutes and still no sign of Leo. The sun was already starting to set when April's little white farmhouse came into view.

Right as they emerged into the clearing around the farmhouse, Raph stopped them. All was completely quiet. Even the noisy clucking chickens in the coop had been silenced. No sound of the TV or anything else.

Peeking inside the windows, the lights were on, but there were papers littering the floor and a few stray pieces of frozen pizza lying on the kitchen counter. And there seemed to be no one home. The chairs in the dining room were turned over. One of them cut in half straight down the middle. Incisions and cuts covered the wall.

"Guys why are we doing this? We live here," Mikey whispered.

"Because from the looks of it, Leo's been here already and who knows what he's done to Casey and April. Honestly Mikey? Do have at least half a brain inside that pighead of yours?"

"Come on," Mikey placed his hand on the knob, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Mikey don't!" The door came open, and Mikey's head vanished inside of his shell right as black blur whizzed right past his head and stuck fast into the pillar on the porch. It was April's tessen.

"April?!" Donnie called, rushing past Mikey.

"Donnie?!"

"April. It's us."

The redheaded teenager came out from behind the door by the stairs and embraced Donnie, followed by Casey who was armed to the teeth with fall of his gear and every kind of hockey stick he had. There was a long raw scratch over his right cheek.

"Guys, where you been?"

"Are you guys okay?"

"We're cool. Have you seen Leo?"

"We were hoping you've seen him? What happened here?"

"It was Leo. He just busted in, yelling to us about Shredder coming for all of us. When we told him that everything was fine, he started to get angry. Then he began to yell at someone. But we couldn't see anything. He started get coated with bruises and cuts, mostly from running around the house and getting knocked around as if he was fighting someone. But there was no one else there."

"We tried everything to get him to calm the heck down, but he didn't seem to hear anything that," said Casey, "Your bro has completely lost it."

"I-I even tried to reach him, but he couldn't hold still long enough for me to get anywhere near him. We hid in the other room until you guys came. Sorry about that Mikey."

"No problem. It's cool."

"Maybe if we could get him to hold still long enough, you can try to reach him."

"But we don't even know where he is,"Raph said.

"We may have not have very good T-phone reception, the trackers on them are fully operational, even if the phones are turned off."

"Great. Now let's go!"

His steps didn't waver from the path as he ran aimlessly through the woods, slashing branches, bushes, or anything that stood in his way, not caring about the cuts that were all over his body and the pain in his leg that hurt like shell. He pushed away all of those thoughts. The only one visible was the immense hatred for the voice that continued to haunt and drive him on. Every other sense and view was sealed behind a wall of pitch black. From time to time he heard other voices that cried out to him that he recognized to be his brothers, but pushed them aside as well. Only to bring back the memory of their ice-cold bodies lying on the gravel roof top covered with blood-stained white snow. Dead at the hands of a nonhuman cold-blooded murderer.

His thoughts were empty, but not his mind. Every sore muscle was still toned and functional, even though they were hurt. He leapt the fence with ease knowing exactly where to find his enemy.

"Shredder!?" Leo screamed at the top of his lungs. He headed into the building Metal Sector XP37 with his katanas clenched in his hands. His two best friends and the only ones he trusted in this fight.

"Shredder, come out coward!" he reiterated, climbing his way down the basement stairs and into the darkness. "Have I proved to be such a worthy adversary that you would not dare face!?"

He was answered by a stunning blow to the head that sent him back on his feet and into the wall behind him. He rubbed the back of his head, but ducked in time for a blade to just nick the tip of his bandana tails and he slid through Shredder's legs, blades out. But his swords didn't even touch him. Shredder flipped back and slammed his fist into Leo's hurt leg. Leo screamed and he was hurled through the air by his arm before he was rammed face first into the concrete floor. Twisting out of his grip, he flipped back onto his feet.

"Your persistence and skill are admirable, but they will not save you now. Your followers. Your human allies. They can't save you."

At once he vanished behind a pile of rubble. Leo chased after him, but didn't see him.

"Why couldn't they see you?"

"I assumed that your brilliant brother has told you about cloaking devices."

"I'm familiar with all of your filthy tricks Shredder."

Shredder struck hard at Leo's shoulder. Leo blocked, but Shredder was way too fast! He dodged and quickly took the opportunity to cut him as Leo attempted to stick a blow at his head.

Both of Leo's katanas fell from his hands. One skidded across the floor while the other hissed through the air and stuck fast into the wall.

Leo wobbled on his hurt leg, only to be struck down again by a kick in the center of his chest.

"I won't let you win. Not this time!"

"The locator has stopped up ahead," Donnie told the others, briefly checking his tracker every few minutes as they all ran on the dirt road."It's the same building that he said he saw Shredder."

"What do we do when we find him?" Casey asked.

"We try to find out what's going on with him and put him in his right mind again," Apri answered.

"Try?! We're going to try?!" Raph growled.

"Yes."

"You got any better ideas Raph?" Raph went quiet. "That's what I thought."

"I don't see him." They looked behind all the crates, but suddenly stopped at the sound of Leo's voice.

"Guys! Down here!" Mikey called, and they ran down the stairs in single file. Coming round a corner, there was Leo flipping around without his swords. As if some strange invisible force was throwing punches at him.

Mikey gave a completely confused look."Uh? Donnie? Explanation?"

"SHREDDER!" Leo hollered, turning in their direction. All of them gasped, mostly because of all of the wounds all over him. "You need to get out of here! Shredder-"

"Is not here Leo." Donnie said as calmly as possible and slowly walking towards his flustered older brother.

"He is here! And he's real! You think I did this to myself?!" he exclaimed, gesturing to all of cuts.

"Dude, Shredder and his goons are miles away from here."

"No, he tracked us here! And he's cloaking himself. That's why you guys couldn't see him."

"I did a complete inspection of the Party Wagon and there were no trackers anywhere on it."

"And we're the only ones here Leo." Raph protested, "If he was here, we would have known."

"Leo don't you see? There is no tracker. There is no Shredder here," April interjected.

Leo suddenly balled his hands into fists and glared angrily at the four of them. He moved slowly in their direction. "You don't believe me, do you? We're supposed to be a team. We're supposed to trust each other. If you can't trust me…I can't trust you." He stepped forward and grabbed Casey by the collar of his sweatshirt, holding a fist in the air.

"Shredder needs to pay for his actions! And I'll silence anyone you gets in my way!" He let the fist fly and Casey closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact.

That punch never came. A horrible sound of metal hitting bone rang in their ears. Casey stared wide-eyed as Leo's grip loosened and his whole body when limp as he fell. He grabbed the blue-clad turtle's arms right before he hit the floor and laid him gently on the ground.

Raph tightly closed his eyes as stray tear ran down his cheek and his sai clattered to the floor. "I'm really sorry about this bro."


	4. Chapter 4

Leo's head throbbed angrily. Everything hurt, even in the slightest motion. Pain racked his body with a ferocity that he didn't think possible. He blinked his eyes trying to focus them. But all he saw was a crumbling metallic grey; and he seemed to lying down on his back. Where was he? What was he doing here?

Then a horrible voice shocked him back to reality. The world growing dark within seconds before. The metal that pierced his body. The vision of Shredder cutting him down.

No. It was Raph. His hotheaded brother turned on him. No. Betrayed. His closest brother and friend had betrayed him in his confrontation with the Hamato clan's most hated enemy.

He cursed at the thought. But where was he? He moved to sit up right in what seemed to be a old infirmary bed that looked and felt as if it hadn't been used for who knows how long, but he immediately realized that he strapped down by restraints on his arms three across his chest and four securing his legs. Several electrodes with different colored wires were placed all over him, the ominous sound of his own heart beat emanating from the next room and climbed higher within every passing second. How ever much they hurt, his wounds had stopped bleeding and were dressed with fresh white bandages. He didn't notice as he was more focused on his own predicament.

His immediate reaction was to jostle the restraints, but whoever had tied them had, unfortunately for him, done a very fascinating job with the knots. Then he remembered his daggers. But fingering through his wrappings, he realized that they had been removed. 'Whoever did this to him was very smart and not just some ragtag gang leader.'

He of course knew that anyone who had any sense would always search their captive for weapons of any kind, but whoever did this also knew exactly where he hid them in his wrist straps. And the only one that would know where they were hidden was one of his….

"Donnie." he growled, cursing under his breath. Not loud enough for anyone to hear him, but just loud enough to hear himself say it. He knew that jostling the ropes was pointless, and he even tried wriggling out of the cuffs slowly, but his 'smart' brother had also thought of that as well.

He stopped wrestling in his ropes when he heard other voices right outside the door to his right. The shadow of a small face pressed against the small window on the side.

"Do we really have to tie him up like this?" A voice he recognized to be Mikey's. Young and childish, and at the same time very sad.

"He threatened us Mikey. I might as well have left a scalpel on his chest for him to stab himself with if you ever thought I would leave him unrestrained. He's dangerous."

"Dangerous?! Tried Totally-Whacked-Cookoo-Labanza! Are you nuts Mikey? He nearly punched into next week!"

"Yeah Jones. We get it," said a female's voice. April."Look Mikey, he'll wake up soon and I'll try to get through to him. In the meantime."

"Why didn't you just try that while he's out cold?"

"Well, Leonardo-san….Nowhere to run, Nowhere to hide." Leo's eyes widened. His tall armored foe standing only about fifteen feet away from him, who walking right towards him, the hair-raising sound of the tips of blades grating along the concrete wall! He moved very slowly, as if he were a crouched lion, but couldn't really decide on the right time to pounce on his prey. Leo tugged on the ropes with all of his might!

"There is no use struggling. You won't feel a thing." Holding up his hand, in it was schapel. He raised it higher to use it as a dagger and Leo, ignoring everything else, including the tightening ropes that dug harder into his raw wrists, strained like a hopeless animal in a snare!

A flash of metal. A scream. A crash. Trailing sounds of running feet. And then nothing.

"I don't now guys. Maybe Shredder really is invisible. We're just not looking hard enough."

"But that doesn't make sense. If he was invisible, how come Leo could see him? We saw him standing right there, but he was just batting at the air."

"If you ask me, this whole thing is bogus! Leo's taken too many kicks to the head."

"No one was asking you Jones. Something is definitely wrong with him, but he isn't crazy."

All of them went quiet at the sound of the heart monitor skyrocketing!

"His heart rate is off the charts!" Donnie exclaimed, trying his very best to not sound frantic. He understood their meaning, but he hoped that his brothers didn't. "Blood pressure! Vitals! Average humans can't stand this height of stress!"

Then the line went flat, with the sound metal falling to the floor, followed by a deafening screech! They rushed into the room all at once. The railing on either side of the bed where the ropes had been tied were completely ripped apart. The mattress had been ripped even more than it had been before, and there was no Leo lying in it.

"Wow. Who would have thought Leo hated going to the doctor this much?"

"Where did he go?"

"Gosh! He's gonna kill himself if we don't find him."

Looking right above the bed in the ceiling, the grate to the cooling duct system had been opened.

"He's in the ventilation system. Leo?!"

A bright red light above their heads started to spin and the deafening sound of what seemed like a fire alarm went off. The door which they were just in was suddenly sealed off by a metal shield, as well as the windows and the opening through which Leo had gone!

"What's happening?!" Mikey shrieked, instinctively grabbing onto Raph. But the hothead didn't push him away.

"I don't know, but we're trapped."

Casey ran to the door and started banging on the metal with his hockey stick,"Leo! Let us out of here!"

"Save your breath Casey! We'll find a way out."

Donnie rushed to the old computer built into the wall. "Leo's activated some kind of security protocol. Nothing can get in or out of the buildings."

"Then how do you suggest we get out of here?!"

"I'll try," Donnie said as calmly as possible. He wasn't about to lose his eldest brother again. Not like last time. "We'll need to go….," he started, but suddenly stopped. "April….what are you doing?"

"Finding Leo." The redhead had seated herself on a old chair in a meditative position, placing her hands on either side of her head and closing her eyes.

Leo bit his lip to keep from crying, his fingers digging into his own skin so that they left marks. He didn't realize that he had bitten so hard until a drop of blood fell to the floor of the tunnel; a place he deemed suitable to hide for the time being. Even when he shifted his weight off of his injured leg, it still hurt like shell.

"Leo?" The voice made him sit bolt upright.

"April?" He looked down in the direction the voice had come from, but he didn't receive a response, he sank back down in his secluded hiding place.

"Leo?" He looked, but still saw nothing.

"April!? Is that you?"

"I'm here to help you Leo."

"April! Where are you? I can't see you."

"I'm still in the room you trapped us in."

"I did it to protect you."

"Leo!" her voice firm and serious, "You're in trouble."

"No, you're the one who's in trouble! Shredder, he's going to kill all of us! And I'm the only one that can stop him!"

"Your heart Leo! I can sense the stress inside you and it's devastating your body. That's what's hurting you, not Shredder. Shredder isn't even here."

"He's real April! I've seen him! I've fought him!"

"Then let me see. Calm yourself Leo, just like Master Splinter taught you. Remember your training."

At the mention of his father, the young teenage turtle obeyed and took several deep breaths. He felt his mind relaxing and could sense April sill herself into his mind.

"See Leo?" she echoed, calm and soothing. "There's no one else here. No one ever was."

He felt his whole body hiss in pain as he was thrown back against the wall. A blade against his chest. And he couldn't hear April anymore.

"Shredder!" The others were at her side in an instant.

Donnie helped her up off the floor, his immediate action was pouring a boat load of questions on her after,"April what happened? Did you find Leo? Was Shredder there?"

After a moment of regaining her composure, she answered. "Shredder isn't here. He isn't real, but he's real to Leo."

"I knew it!" Raph exclaimed, "But how do we snap him out of it?"

"I don't know, but his body is in a deadly state of shock and the stress on his brain is slowly breaking him down. Unless Leo can be set in his right mind, his heart will eventually stop. Shredder is the one who's winning."


	5. Chapter 5

"Ugh! This ridiculous!" Donnie groaned in frustration at another failed attempt to crack the security codes on the old computer, and in turn glanced at April across the room to see if she had made any progress in finding Leo. 

But to no avail. At one point she looked as though she would faint, but she insisted on trying again. She tried her very hardest to concentrate and with every effort her face would blanch and then fall silent again and again. Casey never stopped even for a second as he continued to search for any possible way out.

Mikey was terrified, crying into his older brother's shoulder. For what mere comfort he could offer, Raph placed a gentle hand on his shell. But he didn't look at him, for fear that he would break into tears as well. Something that he could ill afford to happen. He was the strongest of his brothers; The strength that acted as an anchor to hold their feet on the ground and keep them from drifting away. If they saw him, their hotheaded, impulsive older brother, reduced to the same emotional state, their courage would die. And so would their beloved Leader and brother if they didn't find a way out soon!

He glared at the ground, his eyes fixated on the turned over infirmary bed lying on the floor and snapped ropes on the detached sidebars. He tried to block out the sound of his baby brother sobs and the wet tears that fell onto his shoulder. More than anything besides saving their eldest brother, he wanted to comfort and reassure him, the one brother that looked up to him and admired him, that everything would be alright, that they would find Leo and save him. But that was a promise that he simply could not make. Because that would be a lie.

"I won't let this happen again. We need him as much as he needs us," he whispered, but loud enough for Mikey to hear, who was choking back tears

"Ahh!" April yelped, he eyes wide with terror, "We've got to get out of here! Leo can't keep this up much longer!"

"Then what do we do?!" Casey yelled, "Donnie! You're the genius! What so we do?!"

"I don't know! I'm trying as hard as I can."

"Well try harder!"

Donnie whipped around and threw his bag of equipment on the floor and stared daggers at the black-haired boy. "I've done all I can! What about you Jones?! I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas!"

"Hey, I can't concentrate with all of you arguing like this!"

Raph placed his hands over his ears, their arguing like the excruciating sound of nails on a chalk board. Grinding his teeth together, he finally lost it!

"Enough!" The room instantly became silent. "Would Leo want us to be bickering like this!? Fighting each other like 5-year-olds when our Leader, our brother, needs us!? Did Sensei teach and train us to be a bunch of selfish kids? Or ninjas?"

He hesitated for a moment, sucking in his cheeks and fighting back tears as he considered his decision. As the eyes were on him and threatened to bore right into his mind, he swallowed his pride and continued. "I'm not my brother as much as I wish I was. I'm not the great leader that I wished that I could have become. Leo. Leo is that leader and brother. I will never be him. I will never someone that brave, that selfless, that…." he felt a tear come to his eye,"...fearless. I guess….You can only….try."

All of them gazed up at him in awe. Mikey and Donnie looked upon his brother with the utmost respect and hope.

"I made a promise to Sensei when we left the city that I would look after him. Protect him. Help him become our fearless leader again. He needs us more than ever. We need to find a way out, but it will only happen if we all work together."

Almost immediately Mikey broke his gaze with Raph and put his ear to the floor. "Hey dudes! Listen!"

All of them did the same. "I don't hear anything," said Donnie.

"Over here," April waved them over to a tile in the floor. "I think it's hollow underneath."

"Stand back," Raph ordered, wielding his sais in a menacing way. Both blades went clean through and he heaved up the tile, revealing an opening into another room.

"Leo!" April screamed, sweat dripping down the sides of her face, "I can feel him! He's not going to make it!"

"Hold on Leo," Raph whispered, "We're coming."

Leo hung by a thread from the landing the stairs, his bloody fingers clinging for life by the bars. Shredder walked ever so slowly towards the young turtle, laughing wickedly. His vision blurred as he yelled and pulled himself up in a fighting stance. Only to miss a punch and fall down onto the ground again.

"Shredder…." Leo's voice croaked, his arms barely able to support his weight, "Please….stop." A kick in the side sent his limp body down the remaining flight of stairs, ever metal step grinding into his skin and fed the inflammation searing his flesh like fire.

"No Leonardo-san," Shredder murmured, his voice calm and sinisterly evil, "I will never stop."

"What….do you hope….this will accomplish….by killing me."

Shredder laughed. "I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out. Not only will I eliminate my enemy's disciple that caused me such much trouble. He will live on in his miserable life without his pride and joy."

Leo's eyes were flaming with anguish, his anger and rage long since spent. His only hope, was to pray by some miracle that his enemy would make his end swift. But what would his brothers do without him? His brothers….Raph….Donnie….Mikey. "My brothers tell me….you're not real."

He fell to the floor again. "Foolish turtle. They deceive you. You think that you got all of those bruises and wounds from someone who wasn't there?"

He stumbled backwards and looked at himself. But looked at Shredder with confusion, "These bruises. But….you don't have a scratch."

"I am the reason that you never sleep. Skulking in every dark corner of your mind. You will never be rid of me. My face will be the last face that you will ever see."

'Ever dark corner.' His shell fell hard into a metal beam. Shredder walked every so slowly to him and Leo gripped the sides of the beam and attempted to pull himself up. Tears obscured his vision. Colors flew across his eyes. Red, Purple, Orange, Yellow, and Black. Voices drowned out the sound of Shredder's laughter. _There is no tracker. There is no Shredder. We're you're bros Leo. You're not alone. You don't have to fight this battle yourself. Leo, let us help you._

' His fingers began to slip, but he clutched the metal tightly. "Father….forgive me. I have ignored….the one lesson that you tried….so hard to teach me. I allowed my mind….to be clouded with hate and rage. I'm sorry guys. I'm….I'm so sorry. Raph….Mikey….Donnie…."

"What is that you babble on about, turtle?!" Shredder demanded

"My brothers….are right about you Shredder." The light flickered above Leo's head. "You're only in my mind." He placed his hand on the light switch. "Only….in….the dark."

"I'm real enough to finish you!" Shredder thundered, his gauntlet ready to strike.

With the last of strength, the flash of the metal in his eyes, the light switched on and the image melted away like wax. The metal disappeared

"Leo!"

The blue-masked turtle's heart swelled with joy and tears of happiness pooled from his eyes at the sight of his brothers atop the catwalk. Raph leapt down the flight of stairs with the youngest in front and Donnie, Casey, and April in tow.

"It's okay guys," Leo smiled through his tears, his body allowing him a few words before his strength finally gave way, "It's….okay."


	6. Chapter 6

**What's up Guys!? Got another chap for ya'll! Hope you like it!**

He heard the pleading voices that called his name from behind, but his feet didn't stop as they jumped the fence that surrounded the factory complex, to the very edge of the green woods and tramped over a pile of dead tree roots, kicking a large branch down a small hill ten feet away. Anything that blocked his path was either plucked off the ground and hewn full force against a tree or ground into a fine powder in his powerful hands or under his large feet. Such an occasion demanded that he escape the concerns and comforts of the others and finally let out the anger and fear that plagued his heart. And nothing was more relieving to him than to finally break something. Never before had he felt so miserable, ...and weak.

He really felt longing to be among the others, but at that very moment, all he wanted to do was to make something hurt just as much as Leo did.

4 hours Earlier...

"It's okay guys. It's...okay."

Their beloved brother, battered and broken, smiled as he let go of the metal beam that supported him and uneasily teetered forward...falling squarely into awaiting arms. He stumbled back a little, briefly forgetting for a moment how heavy his brother really was, but carefully turned him over and slowly laid him down on the ground.

"Nice catch Mikey," Casey muttered as the five of them hurried down the stairs, April carefully carrying Leo's beloved swords in her hands.

"Donnie, what do we do?!" Raph ordered, hiding the waver in his voice with a yell. He didn't show it, but he felt like he was going to be sick when he saw Mikey's arms turn dark red and trialing pools of it all over the floor. Leo's blood.

Without any argument, the brainiac bent down to the floor by Leo's side and placed a finger against his neck. "His heart's beating...but it's faint. We need to get him back to the farmhouse so I can treat him properly, but we shouldn't move him around too much. We'll need a stretcher or something to carry him back."

"Why can't we just pull up the Party Wagon up the old road to the main gate?"

"That'll take too long Jones. Between running to go get and driving it back here, he may not have that much time. We'll have to take him on foot."

"Me and Casey can make some sort of a stretcher. With all this trash everywhere, there shouldn't be any shortage of supplies."

"Chillax big bro. I've gotch ya. We're gonna get you home." Mikey whispered, once again underestimating the weight and nearly dropping Leo's limp body, had Raph not stepped forward.

"Mind if lend a hand, little brother?" he said with a small smile and hoisted Leo up, swinging his left arm over his shoulders while Mikey took his right. It took Donnie and Casey only a few minutes as they made a makeshift stretcher, made by two long metal poles tied together with a twist of rope and a tarp salvaged from the rubble. April, not wishing to return home empty-handed, reached forward and unbuckled his belts. After wiping the blades clean with the hem of her torn shirt, she carefully and respectfully returned them to their sheaths.

"What now Donnie?"

"It'll take too long to try and drive him back to the farmhouse with the party wagon. I'll have to dress his wounds in the old infirmary."

Leo was not as heavy as they expected when the four of them carried his togther, but the youngest did not find it as easy. He was trying his hardest to fight back sleep, which already was falling fast over his eyes. And once they closed, his end of the pole would droop and the tarp dragged the ground. Casey finally took up Mikey's place, yet he still seemed to be walking and sleeping at the same time.

Once they laid Leo in the infirmary bed, Donnie shooed them all out of the room. April volunteered to give him and hand if he needed any help, but he said he could cover it.

Hours passed. April sat in a rickety old chair, trying herself not to fall asleep. Casey wrapped his hockey sticks with new duck tape. Mikey fell asleep in one of the cushioned chairs while Raph paced unceasingly back and forth across the room.

"Man, if you keep pacing like that, you'll walk your way into the floor. It's only been half an hour." But Raph chose to ignore him as he paced back and forth across the room, avoiding anyone's gaze and stopping every so often to listen everytime voices could be heard in the next room. With a lot of persuasion and encouragement from his best friend, he agreed to let them alone while his brainiac brother tended to Leo's injuries. Mikey snored in the cushioned chair by Casey, whimpering to himself in his sleep.

"How do you think Leo's doing?" Casey asked no in particular, his voice almost inaudible.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out Casey," said April as she stood and gave a soft knock. Without waiting for a reply, she entered through the double doors. The scientific turtle didn't seem to notice her presence as he was so absorbed in his work, running for one end of the room to the other for things he needed.

"Anything?"

At first he didn't respond, his eyes intense and focused as he worked as if he were tapping at a vase teetering on the very edge of a counter and if he tapped hard enough, it would shatter with full force. He jumped a little as she placed a hand on his shoulder and April's concern only grew as she felt his constricted muscles trembling against her fingertips.

"Donnie, how is he? Have you found out what happened?"

"Yes, in fact I have." April was a little surprised at his snappish response, but she chose to ignore it.

"And? You know we can't stay here much longer before someone may find us. We should move him to the farmhouse where he can be properly cared for."

"I know. By some great chance, it turns out that this facility had a fully stocked medics compartment in this infirmary room, but I do think we should get going sooner rather than later. He should be alright physically," he quickly rapped out, a hint of sadness and shame in his voice as he spoke. "I've done all I can for his wounds, but there is no telling how he will be when he wakes up."

"Donnie, I mean why was Leo able to see Shredder?"

"It wasn't really Shredder. After analyzing a fresh sample of Leo's blood, I found something out of the ordinary. A foreign compound concocted with high concentrations of different types of chemicals. Each of their individual cellular make-up was significantly similar."

"Which was what?"

"To induce stress. When a certain level of stress is reached, it could have life-threatening effects on the person, sometimes to the point of death."

April's eyes flashed. "The Shredder that Leo was fighting was merely an anomaly. An illusion,"Donnie's voice cracked and he banged his hand on the table, making the bottles and tools rattle, "An aberration constructed to make his stress levels skyrocket and….batter him until he couldn't even stand up."

April wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him, but he didn't return the gesture. She could feel the tension in his muscles rising and contracting. "He's going to be fine Donnie. You've done all that you can."

"He wouldn't even have been a danger if I had not been so oblivious when I first treated him."

April frowned."You're starting to sound just like him. You can't prevent every danger from happening to him Donnie, but you can do what you can now. It was just an accident."

Donnie continued to look over Leo for a moment and cleared his throat. "It was no accident. I found it specifically in this one wound. And Leo's experienced more than just physical wounds. There's not much I can do for him mentally until he wakes up,"he said sighing heavily."Though I'm not sure Mikey and Raph are ready to hear about it all."

"Why?"

"At least not now. They won't forgive me." Donnie turned away and looked at his sedated brother, but she wasn't buying his act.

"Donnie-"

"No April," Donnie snapped.

"I understand you're upset Donnie. I really do, but he's also their brother too. They deserve to know."

"How do you think that they'll react," his voice starting to crack, "when they hear...that it was my fault. If I had not been so oblivious when I first cared for his wounds…."

April frowned. She took hold of both his shoulders and turned him around so that he could face her. "Don't you dare say that Donnie," she said in a low voice, "Don't for once think that you are to blame for this. This was Shredder's doing, not yours."

April stood took her place beside him and looked over Leo's sleeping form. To be honest, he looked more white than green, being wrapped in so many bandages. An IV was hooked into his arm as clear liquid was being injected into him. Amid all of the blackish-blue and cuts, his face was peaceful and calm. She stared at him thoughtfully, and by a touch of the most unparalleled kindness, she mildly slipped her hand into his and used her other one to wrap his fingers around it. She could feel Donnie's eyes following her motions, and her heart gave a great leap of joy as his large fingers returned a gentle squeeze.

"I think we can tell them.

The purple-masked ninja glanced at her and then at his unconscious brother.

The redhead nodded before exiting. Within the next thirteen seconds, everyone was crowded in front of the door, including a sleepy-eyed Mikey, with Donnie standing at the head.

"I examined Leo's wounds and I….seemed to have missed something when I previously treated him when we first came to the farm house. In the wound where Shredder had struck him, I found a man-made chemical reagent. In it were high concentrate of different chemicals, made specifically to induce extreme levels of stress. The Shredder Leo saw wasn't entirely real, but he and only he could see and feel him. I even found traces of….Shredder's DNA."

Several gasps erupted from around the room. "But how could that have happened?"

"All I know is, based on who I know did this, I'm sure that Shredder was expecting that he would survive and just to be sure Leo didn't, he transferred this reagent into his bloodstream to...finish him completely," Donnie choked out. "However, the reaction could only triggered by a remote control. And someone...triggered it."

 **What will Leo be like when he wakes up?**

 **Will Don let go of his guilt?**

 **Please Review!**


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